10 things you may not know about Tower of Terror

One of the spookiest rides in Disney World is Tower of Terror at Hollywood Studios. After all, it has terror right in the title! For a long time I was too scared to ride it, because I’m scared of pretty much everything. Once I was finally convinced I was very glad, because now it’s one of my favorites! Read on for some fun facts about the Tower of Terror.

1. In the pre-show room (the library), you hear the story of the tower. Some of this is told in Rod Serling’s actual voice, while some of it is done by an impressionist. The impressionist chosen was Mark Silverman, who was selected by Serling’s wife.

2. Like a number of other large Disney icons, Tower of Terror stands at 199 feet tall. This is due to the fact that Florida law requires buildings 200 feet and taller to have a beacon at the top, which might ruin the Disney magic.

3. Due to its height, imagineers realized the Tower would be able to be seen from Epcot. Because of this they designed the color scheme and style to blend in with that of Morocco, the place in Epcot where you can see the tower from.

4. There are a number of references throughout the queue to episodes of the Twilight Zone, including the book To Serve Man and a pair of broken glasses.

5. The drops on the tower happen at about 39 miles per hour.

6. When the Tower of Terror was being built, the building was actually struck by lightning!

7. If you watch episodes of the Twilight Zone, you might notice a cigarette in Rod Serling’s hand. This was removed for the pre-ride video on Tower of Terror due to Walt Disney’s dying of lung cancer because of smoking.

8. At the time that it was built and opened in 1994, Tower of Terror was a totally unique ride – nobody had done anything like this before. It was the first attraction anywhere to combine a drop tower with elements of a dark ride and haunted house type atmosphere.

9. Before they settled on the Twilight Zone, imagineers kicked around the idea of basing the attraction on the works of Stephen King.

10. If you’ve been on the Tower of Terror multiple times you’ve probably noticed this: the drops are randomized, which means the ride is different every time you go on it. They are computer-randomized so you don’t know how many times you’ll drop or from what heights.

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About Me

Hi, I'm Becky!

I'm a huge Disney fan in my early 30's and always trying to find a way to put a little bit of Disney into everyday life. I live in Pennsylvania but travel to the theme parks several times a year - I'm an annual passholder at Disney World! In addition to Disney I love traveling, running, and theater.

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